165 
" St. Peter the Martyr was the head of a 
religious sect: when on his way from the con- 
fines of Germany to Milan with a companion, 
he was attacked by one in opposition to his 
religious principles while passing through a 
wood, and murdered. This is the subject of 
the picture. The prostrate figure of the Saint, 
just fallen by a blow from the assassin, raises 
one of his hands towards heaven, with a coun- 
tenance of conlidence in eternal reward for the 
firmness of his faith; while the assassin grasps 
with his left hand the mantle of his victim, 
the better to enable him, by his uplifted sword in 
the other hand, to give the fatal blow to the fallen 
saint. The companion is flying off in frantic 
dismay, and has received a wound in the head 
from the assassin. 
" The ferocious and determined action of 
the murderer bestriding the body of the fallen 
saint, completes a group of figures which have 
not a rival in art. The majestic trees, as well 
as the sable and rugged furze, form an awful 
back-ground to this tragical scene, every way 
appropriate to the subject. The heavenly mes. 
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